Do your employees travel more than 10 miles to and from the office each day? If so, you probably know long commutes can drain employees’ energy, enthusiasm, and pocketbooks. Long commutes put employees at risk for burnout, making them 2.6 times more likely to leave your company. They can also cause health problems such as high blood pressure and decreased levels of happiness. Fortunately, businesses can offset the harmful effects of long commutes with programs to help make long-distance working less stressful.

With the rise of transportation demand management requirements cities are passing down, employers need to take more and more measures to lower their drive-alone rate. Most cities put the burden on employers to offer better commuter benefits, continuously educate employees about what’s being offered, and actively updating TDM plans to fit requirements.

Not many people love to commute, and even fewer people love it in the winter. Just the thought of going outside in subfreezing temperatures literally gives people the chills. For employers, it’s important to accommodate employees and their commutes when the temperatures drop.

Getting to and from class can be tough for college students. Students who live in on-campus dorms can have just as many issues as their off-campus classmates. Lack of parking (or, in the case of many freshmen, a lack of car ownership) is  a constant challenge for students and staff alike.

Being in a coworking space is an exciting time for young companies. In what’s often the company’s first office space, everyone is working and grinding to get their business off the ground and established. The free cold brew and beer on tap is also a nice touch – but we digress. While it can be exciting to be in a coworking office, the early startup time is always stressful, and commutes shouldn’t be an added pain.

Parking is expensive. Not just for commuters, but for employers and developers as well. As Donald Shoup says, even when parking seems free, it’s never actually free. To attract potential talent, employers will offer free parking, that they’re actually paying hundreds of dollars a month for themselves. But what happens when employees don’t have to drive and can spend a fraction of the cost of a parking space on alternative forms of commuting – like the metro or bus? 

Having a commute as short and pain-free as possible is the goal of most professionals. Commuters want to walk through parks, breathing fresh air on their way to and from the office — not stare at miles of red brake lights. Unfortunately, living and working in locations close enough to each other to allow for that type of commute usually only happens in cities, so developers are trying to change that. How? Mixed-use developments.